This is a collection of articles that
address the Tithe Lie.If you read them with prayer, you will
find freedom.

To
Tithe or Not to Tithe: The $earch
For Truth

Though I’ve always struggled with the tithe,
I still shook my head in disgust when I heard about the preacher who’s
congregation quietly left the church during the prayer following a long
sermon on tithing. He said "Amen", looked up and
cried out "half my church is gone!" I laughed saying "they must
have fled the conviction of the Holy Spirit".

What the Lord said took me completely by
surprise: "They fled from error and guilt-based giving".
"What?!?" - I’ve heard more sermons on the tithe than on any other
topic except perhaps our need of Jesus for eternal life! After I picked
up my jaw from the floor, the Lord prompted me to study tithing and giving.
Throughout the Bible study I prayed for His guidance and in the end I reached
the inescapable conclusion that the "tithe" is to the modern church
what the issue of "circumcision" was to the church in Paul’s time.

NOTE: Nothing
in this article is intended as an excuse to stop giving as the Lord leads
you to give.

The verse most often cited in support of
the tithe is from the Old Testament, found in Malachi
3:8-10:

8. ""Will a man
rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, `How do we rob you?' "In tithes
and offerings. 9. You are under a curse--the whole nation of you--because
you are robbing me. 10. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that
there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty,
"and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out
so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.Many preachers shorten Malachi
3:8-10 to just "Bring the whole tithe into the
storehouse", and almost always with the inference that their church
is the "storehouse". For purposes of this paper, the Lord had me concentrate
on the passage: "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse,
that there may be food in my house". From that passage, the Lord
had me research several questions:1) What is the tithe?2) What was the tithe for?3) What is the storehouse?1) What is the tithe? The tithe is
10% of the increase, established in
Leviticus
27:30-33 as an offering Holy to the Lord. The scripture identifies
the tithe as grain and fruit, herd and flock. The tithe is food! An example
of the tithe can be seen in a shepherd with a flock of 100 sheep who is
blessed with the birth of 50 lambs in the spring. Five of the lambs must
be offered to the Lord as a tithe. The tithe was brought to the temple
in Jerusalem in acknowledgement and appreciation of God’s provision for
His people.

2) What was the tithe for? God doesn’t
need the food – God doesn’t eat. God doesn’t desire sacrifices or offerings
( Psalm
40:6 and Hosea
6:6 ) – He desires mercy. God doesn’t need us to give Him a 10th of
everything – when He already owns everything ( Psalm
24:1 and Job
41:11b ). The tithe was used to feed the Levite priests (and their
families) who were required to work in the temple day and night ministering
to God on behalf of God’s people ( 1
Chronicles 9:33 ). Without the tithe, the Levite priests would have
needed to raise their own food, thereby taking them away from ministering
before God. Hence the reference in Malachi
3:10"…that there may be food in my house".
Nehemiah
13:10-13 records a time when the Levite priests were not receiving
the tithe wherein they abandoned their daily temple responsibilities to
work the farms to feed their families. The reference to ‘robbing God’ in
Malachi
3:8 is in fact robbing God of ministry and worship by failing to take
care of God’s priests through the tithe of food items. Unlike the other
tribes of Israel who were given land as their inheritance, the Levites
were not given any land – only a few cities in which to live. God was their
inheritance ( Numbers
18:20-21 ). Thus, the remaining tribes were obligated to provide the
Levites with food since they had no land on which to grow their own.

3) What is the storehouse? 2
Chronicles 31 teaches that the storehouse is the Temple in Jerusalem.
When the tithe was re-instituted under King Hezekiah, the king gave orders
to prepare storerooms in the temple to hold the tithe. Apparently the grain
"tithe" was heaped up in the streets, which caused a traffic jam of sorts.
King Hezekiah had the storehouse built to relieve a bad case of urban congestion
in ancient Jerusalem.

Having established the original purpose
of the tithe, the Lord prompted me with several more questions.

Q: "What happened to the temple (storehouse)?"A: It was destroyed in 70AD and has
not been rebuilt.

Q: "Why?"A: The old covenant system of animal
sacrifice to atone for sin is finished. The new covenant is in the blood
of Christ who is the final and everlasting sin sacrifice.

Q: "Where is the temple now?"A: 1
Corinthians 6:19 says WE are the temple of the Holy Spirit. God no
longer resides in a stone temple, but in the hearts of his children through
the Holy Spirit.

Q: "What happened to the Levite priests?"A: The Levite priesthood is no longer
necessary as the old covenant system of animal sacrifice in the temple
was superceded by the everlasting covenant of Christ’s blood.

Q: "Who is the priesthood now?"A: 1
Peter 2:5 and 9 says those who have received Jesus as Lord and Savior
are the priesthood.

Come On Laity, Let’s Do The
Twist

Burdening the Body of Christ with the Tithe
requires several twists and reinterpretations of scripture.

1) The tithe must be imported
from the OT law of Moses to the new covenant of grace by Christ’s blood.2) The tithe must be redefined from "flocks,
herds, fruit and grain" to "money" and often "time".3) The storehouse must be redefined from
the temple in Jerusalem to the local church building.4) The Body of Christ must buy into the
ordained clergy as the new priesthood, thereby replacing the Levite priesthood
as the rightful recipient of the tithe.5) The Body of Christ must forfeit their
own priesthood and buy into the notion that they are the "laity".

The tithe has been introduced to the Body
of Christ using 2 tactics of the enemy.

1) Sowing guilt and shame
into the Body of Christ by quoting Malachi
3:8"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But
you ask, `How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings." What devoted
Christian wants to rob God? The net effect of sowing guilt has been to
extort money from the Body of Christ, thereby robbing the Body of the joy
and blessing of giving as God leads. The practice ignores Paul’s instructions
to the church at Corinth: "Each man should give what
he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful giver ( 2
Corinthians 9:7 )."

2) Blaming the "laity" for the financial
troubles in the Body of Christ , by telling the Body they are not
blessed by God because they do not tithe. Often Malachi
3:10 is emphasized "Test me in this, says the
LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven
and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."
In
so doing, believers are challenged to tithe, with the promise that God
will bless them if they do. Such giving is not out of love for God, but
out of selfishness. It implies a reward for works, which contradicts
Ephesians
2:8-9 , and completely ignores our status as sons of God by faith in
Christ ( Galatians
3:26 ) and joint heirs of God with Christ ( Romans
8:17 ). The practice also ignores Christ’s words in Matthew
4:7"Do not put the Lord your God to the test".

The Apostles Did Not Teach Gentiles
To Tithe

Acts
15:1-31 records a dispute over circumcision that arose in the Gentile
church at Antioch. Several false brothers had attempted to require Gentile
(non-Jewish) Christians to be circumcised. Paul and Barnabas sharply opposed
the false brothers and traveled to Jerusalem to discuss the issue of circumcision
with the other apostles. In Jerusalem, they reported the miracles and conversions
among the Gentiles. The apostles were filled with joy over God’s work there,
and they agreed that circumcision was not a requirement for salvation.
Following the meeting, the apostles and elders in the church at Jerusalem
sent Paul and Barnabas back to Antioch with a letter of welcome to the
Gentile Christians. The essential text of the letter is found in Acts
15:28-29. It reads: "It seemed good to the Holy
Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements:
You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the
meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well
to avoid these things. Farewell."

The apostles did not want to burden the
Gentiles with Old Testament practices! The proof is in their letter to
the Gentiles and the fact that the apostles did not impose the tithe on
them.

Let’s suppose for the sake of argument
that Jesus had commanded us to continue tithing. It would be appropriate
then to use the tithe to feed the priesthood as originally purposed. Who
then is the priesthood? The apostle Peter writes in 1
Peter 2:5 and 9 that every believer is a priest ! Hebrews
5-8 also teaches us that Jesus is the only priest that we need .
However the institutional church has borrowed from the Old Testament model
of the Levitical Priesthood, thereby establishing a new priesthood (ordained
clergy) that is separate from the rest of the Body of Christ. The division
between the clergy, and the so-called "laity" is not Biblical (Is this
the doctrine of the Nicolaitan’s that Jesus says He hates in Revelation
2:6 ) ?In fact, Jesus did not establish the ordained clergy – He
chose fishermen and tax collectors to preach His gospel. Neither did He
establish division in His church, He desires unity ( John
17:20-23 ). The apostles did not set up an ordained clergy – they chose
men full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom to serve the Body ( Acts
6:3, 1
Timothy 3 ). This man-made division between "clergy" and "laity" has
effectively served to divert the offerings of the Body of Christ away from
the people it is intended to bless and the offerings are most often used
in ways contrary to the will of God. The net result has been starvation
and financial bondage for many believers, and the real priesthood – the
whole Body of Christ – has not been prepared to carry out Christ’s command
to preach the gospel to all nations!

Jesus is the Word of God in the flesh (
John
1:14 ). He knew that Malachi
3:10 says "bring the whole tithe into the storehouse"
when
He instructed the rich man to sell everything and give the proceeds to
the poor ( Matthew
19:21 ). I imagine the Scribes and Pharisees about choked on what Jesus
said as they were in the habit of devouring widow’s houses for profit (
Luke
20:47 ) and the rich man’s possessions would have been a real feast
for them. In Matthew
25:31-46, Jesus reiterated His desire to help the poor in the parable
of separating the sheep from goats, wherein at judgement Jesus will reward
those who feed the hungry and clothe the poor. Since Jesus judges us for
our care of the poor and hungry, and since He commands us to preach the
gospel throughout the world, why is most of our giving used for church
buildings and salaries with only a small percentage devoted to the poor,
missions and evangelism?

Is the church making
goats out of usby not feeding the hungry and clothing the
poor with our offerings?

Let’s not wait until the Judgement of Christ
to find out!

Sins of the Church Against
the Needy

The Lord has been trying to bring me to
the truth about giving for years. On many occasions, He prompted me to
take what I would have normally put in the offering plate at church and
give it directly to someone in need. I love giving like that! Still, in
the absence of specific giving instructions from the Lord, I never questioned
the common practice of giving everything to the church, whereupon I trusted
the church to administer my gifts. That is until the day the Lord had me
witness an abomination that left me nauseous.

In the main office of a church I attended
years ago, I was fixing a computer one Friday morning. Two young black
women, with 3 adorable children dressed in their Sunday best, came into
the office to ask for a food donation. The 3 secretaries of our all white
upper middle class church stared at them, and finally one said nervously
"our deacon of benevolence is in the office on Thursday afternoons – can
I make an appointment for you next Thursday?" One of the women pleaded
"We can’t wait a week, we need food now". The secretary repeated her offer,
and I became sick to my stomach. I left quickly and drove a mile up the
road to a cash machine and came directly back to the church only to find
that the 2 women and 3 children had left empty handed. The staff did not
know where they had gone, and I returned to my car and wept. I felt as
if I had failed but the Lord said "you did not fail son, the church failed".

Since that first eye-opening experience,
the Lord has shown me many more sins of the church against the poor that
have left me ill. One church considered installing an air conditioning
system for which several members had pledged $35,000 while another member
of the church who was wheelchair bound from advanced multiple sclerosis
didn’t have enough money to buy food at the end of the month with what
little state aid she received. Often she was forced to chose between food,
medicine or heat in winter. For many months my wife and I gave to her anonymously
and when she went to be with the Lord last winter, she was at peace – the
kind of peace that only acts of love can bring ( 1
John 3:18, James
1:22 ). As she was relieved of her financial stress, she blessed everyone
around her with unquenchable joy. Most importantly, she taught us about
right giving.

More recently, I attended a conference
where the host appealed to the audience to give "an offering for
the
poor". I heard the Lord say "the poor are among you" ( Mark
14:7 ) and immediately I thought of a dear friend in attendance who
is experiencing financial difficulties and had recently lost her home.
The next day I began a letter to the host saying "Last night you took an
offering from the poor" . I groaned at the error and started
to rip the page from my notebook when the Lord said "that is not an error
– last night’s offering was taken from the poor".

The Lord then brought to mind the parable
of the sheep and goats, specifically Matthew
25:40 where it says "whatever you did for one
of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me".
The words "these brothers of mine"had
not made an impression on me before, and the Lord brought me to the understanding
that our first obligation to the poor is to the poor within the Body of
Christ. The Lord then brought Matthew
15:26 to mind wherein Jesus said "It is not right
to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs".

The early church had a much better understanding
of Christ’s intent to care for the needs of the Body of Christ than we
do today. The proof of their caring for each other can be seen in Acts
2:44-47 and Acts
4:32-37 where the Body of Christ shared everything, and through their
giving, they eliminated poverty and indebtedness. In fact, Acts
4:34 says "there were no needy persons among
them!" Taking up offerings to feed the Body of Christ was common
in the early church. In Acts
11:27-30, the Gentile church at Antioch took up an offering for the
believers in Judea who were experiencing a time of famine. Can you imagine
a church today taking up an offering for a cross-town rival?

How did the church get so far off course?

Giving as Christ Intends

Though the tithe is not a requirement for
the Body of Christ, we are still instructed to give. What changed from
the Old Testament to the New is our motivation for giving. In the Old Testament,
giving was compulsory – a tenth (tithe). In the New Testament we are to
give with joy as we are led to give ( 2
Corinthians 9:7 ), not by compulsion.

Our attitude about giving should be like
that of the poor widow who Jesus esteemed in Mark
12:41-44. She put 2 small copper coins, worth a penny, into the temple
treasury. They were all the widow had to live on. She understood that
God owns everything and was willing to give all that she had with cheer
as God had prompted her to do.

It is time to invest cheerfully in what
is eternal, specifically in God’s children for the completion of Kingdom
work ( Matthew
6:19-21 ). The children must be fed, clothed and equipped to carry
Christ’s gospel throughout the whole world and to make the Bride of Christ
ready for her soon returning Savior. Imagine what it could be like if we
resumed giving and sharing as Jesus intends. Surely we would rediscover
the same abundant and powerful living as the early church enjoyed!

On the topic of giving, John
8:36 might seem like a strange scripture to cite: "So
if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed". While it is
true that Jesus set us free from the curse of the law ( Galatians
3:10-13 ), sin and death ( Romans
8:2 ), our failure to give as Jesus taught us has kept the Church
in financial bondage, and has prevented the Church from completing
the work of Christ on earth. How many children of God fail to reach their
full potential as ministers of the Gospel because they lack provision?
It is through our giving and sharing that we equip the Church for service,
eliminate hunger and poverty, and realize the fullness of our freedom in
Christ.

We can no longer afford to misuse our offerings
for church buildings, parsonages, conference centers, multi-purpose buildings,
air conditioning, padded pews, pipe organs, and the like, all of which
will soon be forgotten, while God's children go hungry, poor and ill equipped
to minister the Gospel. Instead, like Abel, we should give our best
gifts to the true Church – the people – because we love God and want to
see God's work accomplished on the earth.

On concluding my study, the Lord asked
one final question: What building ever won
a person to Christ?

Ask the Lord to show you what to give and
to whom, and remember that His words "Feed my sheep"
(John
21:17) go much deeper than a pastor's sermon on a Sunday morning. His
words are spiritual, and they are literal.

a
'Follow-Up' article.

I want to share briefly a few objections
to the original article and address the points of objection.
As you
exercise your freedom to give as the Lord leads, you’ll no doubt hear these
objections and I feel led to share what the Lord has shown me. The
Lord had me write the article around Malachi
3:8-10 . The objections refer to a few other scriptures that are often
twisted and manipulated to support the tithe.

Abraham gave a “tenth” (NIV) or “tithe”
(KJV) to “Melchizedek” the King of ‘Salem (Jerusalem), High Priest of God,
in Genesis
14:18-20 . The “tenth/tithe” was given out
of the spoils of war - plunder, following Abraham’s victory
over King Kedorlaomer and those kings allied with him after they had captured
Abraham’s nephew Lot, Lot’s family and possessions, and the possessions
of Sodom and Gomorrah ( Genesis
14:11-12 ). The person who found fault with the tithe article notes
the parallels between “Melchizedek” King of ‘Salem who received Abraham’s
tithe of spoils ( Genesis
14:18-20 ) and Jesus who is High Priest in the order of “Melchizedek”
(several mentions in Hebrews
5-7 ).

A close read of Hebrews
7 reveals that the author is NOT writing a defense of the “tenth/tithe”
though it is mentioned several times. Rather, the author makes a case for
Jesus as our eternal high priest, by comparing Jesus to Melchizedek whom
Abraham esteemed by a voluntary tithe. To help the Hebrew people understand
Jesus, the author basically asks a rhetorical question: "if Melchizedek
was great though he was just a man, how much greater then is Jesus who
was raised from the dead, and lives forever". The author also discusses
the end of the Levite priesthood and the effect Christ’s death has on the
practice of the Law ( Hebrews
7:11-12 , Hebrews
7:18-19 ). Hebrews explains that Christ is the final and everlasting
sacrifice and that He is our High Priest before God forever ( Hebrews
7:24 ) in the order of (like) Melchizedek ( Genesis
14:18-20 , Hebrews
7:11 ).

A Tenth of Everything? Define
Everything!

Abraham lived near the great trees of Mamre
the Amorite ( Genesis
14:13 ) at Hebron ( Genesis
13:18 ). Hebron is about 15 miles south of Jerusalem. The Genesis account
says Abraham pursued Kedorlaomer north “as far as Dan” ( Genesis
14:14 ) which is about 100 miles north of Jerusalem. When Abraham and
his men caught up with Kedorlaomer at Dan, Abraham divided his men and
attacked during the night, giving chase as far north as Hobah (north of
Damascus) which is 30 miles north of Dan ( Genesis
14:15-16 ). Abraham’s pursuit took him about 145 miles north of his
home in Hebron. Following his victory over Kedorlaomer, Melchizedek came
out to meet Abraham in King’s Valley (to the east of Jerusalem) as he returned
from Hobah ( Genesis
14:17-18 , Hebrews
7:1 ). Abraham’s home in Hebron was still another 15 miles to the south
of King’s Valley. Unless Abraham carried his household possessions with
him to Dan and back (about 290 miles round trip), Abraham gave to Melchizedek
only
out of the spoils - plunder he carried back from his victory over Kedorlaomer
( Hebrews
7:2, 7:4 ). In that sense, it was Kedorlaomer,
the enemy, who paid the tithe.

There are important elements to consider
in the story of Abraham's victory over Kedorlaomer. A map in my Bible suggests
the location for Sodom and Gomorrah near Zoar ( Genesis
13:10 ), SE of the Dead Sea, which is about 50 miles from Hebron where
Abraham lived. News was spread by word of mouth. It took time for word
of Kedorlaomer's conquest of Sodom and Gomorrah to reach Abraham in Hebron.
It took time for Abraham to assemble an army of 318 trained men from his
household ( Genesis
14:14 ). All the while, Kedorlaomer was making his way north with Lot,
his family, and the plunder of Sodom and Gomorrah, presumably making his
way northward in the plains area east of the Jordan River, Dead Sea and
Mt. Seir. The mileage figures I used in the paragraph above, assume Abraham
and his men headed due north from Hebron, on the west side of the Jordan
River and Dead sea, converging on Kedorlaomer at Dan. If Abraham turned
south from Hebron and went around the south end of the Dead Sea, through
Zoar and Sodom and Gomorrah, it would be necessary to add at least 80 miles
to the round trip figure above.

My point with all the discussion of mileage
and geography, is that a small army of 318 men, in pursuit of a powerful
army with a substantial 'head start', must travel light. I assume Abraham
and his men pursued Kedorlaomer on foot, and carried only swords and shields,
minimal food and water. A 'light infantry' going off to war, does NOT carry
their household possessions with them, their silver and gold, nor did they
drive their flocks and heards before them when in pursuit of Kedorlaomer.
Undoubtedly Abraham and his men ran in marathon-like fashion to catch
up with Kedorlaomer. Their northward pursuit was over 115 miles of hilly
terrain west of the Jordan and Dead Sea. If they turned south and followed
Kedorlaomer's tracks from Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham and his men would
have run nearly 200 miles before catching up with Kedorlaomer.

That Abraham's home was still 15-20 miles
south of when he met up with Melchizedek in the King's Valley, shows a
clear distinction between giving a tenth out of the plunder of war that
Abraham brought back with him from Dan, and Abraham's personal WEALTH and
INCOME which remained at Abraham's household in Hebron. Interestingly,
Genesis
13 says Abraham was already wealthy with silver, gold, and livestock,
before he even moved to Hebron. Abraham did NOT tithe out of his INCOME.
There is a distinct difference between Abraham's one time voluntary thank
offering out of the plunders of war, and what was later instituted by the
Law of Moses as the ongoing tithe for the Levite priesthood. I believe
that difference is the reason the NIV Bible translates the word "ma'aser"
(Strong's Reference #4643) in Genesis 14:20 as "tenth" and not "tithe".

It is a tremendous perversion of
scripture to take a perpetual tithe from the wages of the sons
of God – the Church – when the original tithe was a one time voluntary
thank offering given by Abraham to Melchizedek from the plunder of an enemy!
It
is shameful to treat the sons of God like the enemy! How should
the sons be treated? Consider Jesus response to the temple tax.
Jesus
asked Peter “What thinkest thou, Simon? The kings of the earth, from whom
do they receive toll or tribute? From their sons, or from strangers?” Peter
answered “From strangers” and Jesus replied “Therefore the sons are free”
.
( Matthew
17:24-27 ).

Another point to ponder from
Genesis
14:18-20 is simply that Melchizedek did not ask Abraham for a tenth
of the plunder. How is it that ministers can read Genesis
14:18-20 and ask for a tenth, when Melchizedek did not ask for a tenth?
Let's look at what really happened in Genesis
14:18-20. Melchizedek came out to King's Valley
to GIVE TO Abraham, NOT to receive from Abraham!Melchizedek
brought bread and wine for Abraham, they ate together, and Melchizedek
pronounced a wonderful blessing over Abraham. This is the very picture
of Jesus who said "I did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many!" (Matthew
20:28) Abraham was apparently so moved that he voluntarily gave a tenth
of
the plunder to Melchizedek. Why is it that I have never heard a
minister address the greater meaning of this passage, by relating Melchizedek
who served bread and wine to Abraham, to Jesus who offered his flesh and
blood that we might live in communion with the Father forever (John
6:33-63)? Wasn't it bread and wine that Jesus served the disciples
for the last supper (Luke
22:17-20)? Genesis
14:18-20 is of prophetic significance - a portrait of the new convenant
of grace that would be implemented by the last Melchizedek priest: Jesus.
Why then is it that so many ministers take Genesis
14:18-20 and turn it into a binding law on the freed sons of God, when
clearly it is a wonderful promise of our eternal communion with the Father
through that flesh and blood sin offering of Christ?

Gross Misrepresentation

Genesis
14:18-20 has been broadly interpreted to impose the tithe on the Church.
Obvious errors are:

Reinterprets the “spoils of war” or "plunder"
( Genesis
14:14-16 ) to “wages” or “time”.

Overlooks that Abraham’s “tithe/tenth” to
Melchizedek was voluntary, NOT compulsory.

Assumes that Abraham’s “tithe/tenth” to Melchizedek
was a continuing practice though there is no evidence to suggest that it
was.

Ignores that Melchizedek did not ask for a
tithe.

Ignores that it is the descendants of Levi
who collect the tithe ( Hebrews
7:5 ).

Ignores Hebrews
9:9-10 which clearly states that the old way of gifts, sacrifices and
offerings applied only until the “time of the new order” (NIV).

The “God
Changes Not” Argument

“Tell me, you who
want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says ( Galatians
4:21 )?”

An objection made the statement “God changes
not”. While it is true God does not change, it is a poor argument to
use on behalf of continuing the tithe. If the argument “God changes
not” is a valid reason to keep one part of the Law – the tithe – then it
is a valid reason to keep ALL of the law ( Galatians
5:3 ). Consider the uproarious implications! Burnt offerings and sacrifices
on the altar of every church! “Come to our Sunday
morning worship service and BBQ!”Every church with it’s own
grain silo, winepress, and pasture / corral for the livestock people will
be tithing! We’ll need much bigger offering plates! Oh and the joys we’ll
all have practicing ceremonial cleanliness – women instructed to stay home
from church 1 week per month ( Leviticus
12:2 ). Pastors inspecting rashes and teens
staying home from church and school because of a zit outbreak
( Leviticus
13 )! Undertakers! Poor undertakers! Every time they touch a deceased
person they are unclean for a week ( Numbers
19:16 )! If business is brisk, don’t expect to see the undertaker
in church again! Yes Lord! We want to go back to the Law! Not!

Rebuke
of the Scribes and Pharisees Argument

Jesus rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees
for meticulously giving a “tithe/tenth” of their “mint, dill and cummin”,
while neglecting the more important matters of the law: “justice, mercy,
faithfulness”. Jesus said “these ought ye to have
done, and not to leave the other undone” (KJV) and “You
should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former” (NIV)
- Matthew
23:23

Once again, there are several problems
with using this scripture to support the tithe as applicable to the Body
of Christ.

Reinterpretation of “mint, dill, and cummin”
(food) to “money” and “time”.

Jesus was addressing the Scribes and Pharisees
– who are Jews – under the Law of Moses – and obligated by the Law to tithe.
Jesus was NOT addressing gentiles (non-Jews).

Jesus choice of words was different addressing
this sin than when He addressed other sins. His choice of words is weak
and in the past tense, as it would be from someone who understood
that the Law was about to be superceded by the new covenant in Christ’s
blood: grace! Strong’s Reference #4160
for the Romanized word “poieo” says it is a “less direct” form of a command
– which is why it was rendered “ought to” or “should have”. Contrast Jesus
words to the Scribes and Pharisees with His words to the woman caught in
adultery: “Go and sin no more” (KJV) and “Go
now and leave your life of sin” (NIV) - John
8:11 . His words to her are direct, emphatic, and they are in the
future tense – because there is a continuing command against adultery,
unlike the Law to tithe which ceased to apply with Christ’s death and resurrection.

"Woe to you, teachers
of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint,
dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the
law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter,
without neglecting the former.

As I was meditating
on the text above, the Lord showed me something I hadn't seen before. In
the statement "You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin.
But you have neglected the more important matters of the law", Jesus
makes it clear that the "tithe" is a "matter of the law", in that He refers
to it along with "justice, mercy and faithfulness" which are also "matters
of the law". In effect Jesus is saying 'the law requires you to tithe,
and practice justice, mercy and faithfulness, and while you have meticulously
kept the law concerning the tithe, you have failed to keep the law concerning
justice, mercy and faithfulness'.

This clear identification
of the "tithe" as a requirement of Old Testament law, dispenses with the
"tithe" as applicable to Christians in as much as Jesus fulfilled the law
( Matthew
5:17 ). Further, since we are IN Christ, and
Christ is IN us, we too have fulfilled the law ( Colossians
2:8-23 ). That the Law is NOT applicable to Christians is discussed
further in the section "What About The Floodgates" (below).

Since you asked for me to address 1st
Corinthians 9:14 specifically, I offer these comments of the scripture
IN context of the whole chapter, and common understanding of how the
apostles of the day lived.

vs. 4 the context is "food and
drink"vs. 7 the context is food and drinkvs. 9 the context is foodvs 10 the context is food (grain from
the harvest)vs 11 the context is food (seed and harvest)vs 13 the context is the food (meat, grain/fruit
and drink) offered on the altar

And so, in context, Paul is talking
about food and drink - sustenance.

If Paul, who was imprisoned, beaten, stoned,
and ultimately beheaded for the gospel sought nothing more for himself
than food or drink, how is it that modern pastors expect to extract a full
time salary for conducting services on a Sunday morning, and Wednesday
evening? Especially in light of 1 Corinthians 9:15 where
Paul expresses
pride that he did not use his "rights" to 'compensation'. In verses
17-27 Paul makes it very clear that he wants to offer the gospel 'free
of charge' so that the gospel is not hindered, and so that his reward
is in heaven.

If Paul boasted about offering the gospel
free of charge despite his 'entitlement' to food, how is it pastors
turn 1 Corinthians 9 into justification to draw a salary from preaching
the gospel, at least in the western culture's understanding of "salary"?

The Lord gave me new insight into the real,
literal meaning of 1 Corinthians 9:14.

14. Even so hath the Lord ordained that
they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. (KJV)

14. In the same way, the Lord has commanded
that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
(NIV)

Based on the Strong's Literal Bible translation
below, neither the KJV or NIV translations capture the real meaning. The
literal meaning, according to Strong's, seems to be "practice what you
preach"

14. |3779| So |2532| also |3588| the |2962|
Lord |1299| ordained |3588| those |3588| of the |2098| Good News |2605|
announcing, |1537| of |3588| the |2098| Good News |2198| to live.

In other words, if you preach 'set the
captives free', then set them free; don't tie them up with religion and
doctrine. If you preach 'share what you have with the poor', then share
with the poor. If you preach abstain from sexual immorality, then do so!

Strong's Literal Bible says
|2198| TO
LIVE - is a VERB. Yet when it's translated as
'receive their LIVING from the gospel', "TO LIVE" (a VERB) is
made into a NOUN ("A LIVING"). That is an error in the translation
- likely influenced by the 'institutional church' mentality of the translators
who have buildings to pay for, and the salaries of pastor and staff. Our
cultures understanding of "making a living" simply doesn't fit the context
of the scripture. Jesus sent out the Apostles in Matthew 10 and Luke 10
with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, and sandals on their
feet, and told them to expect nothing more than food and a place to sleep.

The word ANNOUNCING is key too... to 'announce'
means (as I understand Paul's use of the word) the first to proclaim the
gospel in a new territory, or to a people who have never heard it before.
The closest we have these days to that function is a MISSIONARY. There
really are very few in the western culture who are "announcing" the gospel
in that fashion. There are many who are 'repeating' the gospel, in church
buildings, over and over and over again to those who have long ago heard
the gospel announced - but those who 'go out' and who are spearheading
the gospel to new cultures are very few. In reality, the gospel is announced
only once - thereafter the gospel should be put into practice by the people
who have heard and received the gospel.

In regard to "ANNOUNCING" the gospel, Jesus
instructed His disciples: "...Freely you have
received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8). If that was Jesus command
to the apostles, and it is apparent Paul understood Jesus command where
in 1 Corinthians 9 Paul sought only food and shelter, how is it pastors
expect a full time salary for preaching the gospel?

What About The Floodgates?

I often asked myself a tough question about
the floodgates in Malachi
3:10, but I have refused to answer it because it seemingly made God
out to be a liar! Finally one of my close friends asked me the same question
- and I knew God wanted me to give an honest answer. She asked "why
after tithing, tithing, and tithing, don't we ever see the flood gates
open?" Immediately I heard the Holy Spirit say "sowing
into a lie does not produce a blessing". The Holy Spirit impressed
me that Malachi
3:10 was not a lie in and of itself, but rather some ministers use
the scripture in a manipulative way to extract the tithe from the congregation.
During a time of meditation later that evening, the Holy Spirit impressed
me to read Galatians, and I heard the Spirit say "Jesus
paid the tithe for you". The next morning I read and re-read
Galatians.

In a nutshell, Galatians contrasts the
differences between reliance upon the law for salvation, and reliance upon
Christ. Galatians
2:16 sums up the difference saying "…a man is not justified by observing
the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ…". For those who place their
faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, Galatians
3:25 says "we are no longer under the supervision
of the law". The most important scripture in my view, is Galatians
3:19, which says "... the law ... was added ... UNTIL the Seed to
whom the promise referred had come...". Galatians
3:16 says Jesus Christ is the "Seed to whom
the promise referred". And so, the law applied UNTIL the time of Christ.
Thereafter, the new covenant in Christ applies.

Since Christ has come, our salvation depends
on faith in Him, not upon our observance of the law. Yet for whatever
reason, many ministers continue to teach elements of the law, and congregations
are expected to obey. The tithe is one such element of the law that is
frequently taught from the pulpit. My concern for the Church is that
opening the door to any element of the law could lead to reliance upon
the law for righteousness sake, about which Paul writes in Galatians
3:10"All who rely on observing the law are under a curse...".
If a believer's sole reason for tithing is obedience to the law, it should
come as no surprise that the floodgates never open.

In Galatians
5:18 Paul writes "If you are led by the spirit,
you are not under the law". And so one must ask: "Are
we led by the Spirit, except for giving which is directed by the law? "NO!
Jesus
paid the tithe for us because we have died to the law through Christ
(Romans
7:4, Romans
8:2, Romans
10:4, Galatians
3:13). THE moment we try to make ourselves righteous by resuming the
practice of any portion of the law, WE INSULT
CHRIST just as if we were to say "Jesus sacrifice was not sufficient
to pay for all sin."

Let me paint the picture for you that
the Father painted for me regarding the tithe, or for that matter,
any other law of the Old Testament. IF after Jesus died to pay the
price for sin we were still required to obey any portion of the law, then
Jesus did NOT in fact pay the price for ALL sin. If there were a sin that
the blood of Jesus did not cover, judgement would look something like this:
"Jesus forgives all of your covered sins - BUT
WAIT - you are condemned to HELL because Jesus death doesn't cover
your failure to obey certain applicable laws..." Preaching Jesus AND
the law means either we need a 2nd sin offering to pay for what Jesus did
not cover, OR, we will be condemned to HELL for failing to obey the laws
not covered by Jesus blood. Suddenly our "coverage" sounds very much like
an insurance policy with numerous exclusions in the fine print at the bottom!
Brothers and sisters there are NO LOOPHOLES in the blood of Christ!
Jesus has paid the tithe for us!

But I Feel Guilty - A
Personal Note

Every time I heard a minister preach on
the tithe, I felt sick - best described as a nauseous feeling in the pit
of my gut. For years I assumed that feeling was guilt welling up in me,
caused by the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I can't count the number of
times I responded to that nauseous feeling by swallowing hard and giving
all the money I had with me - sometimes beyond what I had - whereupon I
borrowed from my line of credit account. Years of hearing messages on
the tithe, where ministers had enslaved my compliance by sowing guilt and
shame had convinced me that God was the type of Father who whips, prods,
guilts and shames His children into obedience!I
simply did not know the wonderful Abba Father who loved me
so much that He gave everything to restore our relationship and ensure
that I would spend all eternity with Him. After years of believing God
was using guilt to force my obedience to the law, I prayed about it. Abba
Father gently said "the sick feeling you experience is My gift of discernment
serving to tell you that what you are hearing is a lie." He was there all
along, but I didn't know His language, and I didn't know enough to ask
Him to teach me. And the shepherds didn't teach me to listen to the Father
for myself. Now I know that I am His, He is mine, and I hear His voice.
So can you (John
10:14-16).

If You Still Have Doubts

I wrote back and forth with one brother
in Singapore for several months, as he was not comfortable changing his
giving habits without a thorough explanation of every scripture that mentioned
the tithe. Even after every scripture was accounted for, he still struggled
with years of tithe teaching, and the guilt it had instilled in him.

For me, it comes down to 2
Corinthians 9:7 "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart
to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful
giver." What 2
Corinthians 9:7 says to me is: "what he has decided" (it is MY decision
what to give), "in his heart" (I am to follow the leading of MY
heart), "not reluctantly" (what I give must feel right), "or
under compulsion" (no one can make me give) and "God loves a cheerful
giver" (God wants me to give what I feel GOOD about giving).

There is one final observation I shared
with my brother, that has freed me from all condemnation concerning the
tithe. I have given far more than a tenth/tithe to the Lord, I have given
my ALL! When I made Jesus my Lord and Savior and took up my cross to follow
Him where I daily offer my body a LIVING SACRIFICE ( Romans
12:1 ), I gave all of me - 100% - to the Lord. To that end, the Lord
Himself said: "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his
life for his friends" ( John
15:13 ). Christ laid down His life for me out of love for me ( John
10:11 ). In turn, I have laid down my life for Christ out of love for
Christ ( Matthew
16:24-25 ) so that He will live through me ( John
3:30 ), and my friends might see Christ in me ( Galatians
2:20 ) and be saved ( 1
Peter 3:15-16 ). There is no more loving and pleasing sacrifice you
can offer to God than your life.

The Last Word

In regards to the law, what part of “It
is finished”( John
19:30 ) is so difficult to understand?

Or what about “But
if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law”Galatians
5:18 ?

Let us be clear about who is entitled to
the first fruits of your labors:

2 Timothy 2:6
"The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops."

The
Tithe: Who's Robbing Who?

Preface:
About 2 years ago, the Lord led my wife and I to leave the institutional
church we attended to home church. Since both of us had attended institutional
churches all of our lives, the new direction challenged us, and the alarmed
reaction of our friends nearly persuaded us to ignore the Lord's leading.
Finally, after the Lord showed us numerous scripture references about believers
meeting in homes (Acts
5:42, Acts
8:3, Acts
16:40, Acts
20:20, Romans
16:3-5, 1
Corinthians 16:19, Colossians
4:15, Philemon
1:2), and that there is not even one scripture in the New Testament
where believers erected a dedicated church building, we were put at ease
about home church fellowship.

Home Church
is a new path for us, and the questions are many, as we feel our way along
in this vast new territory. Still it is a wonderful adventure, and provides
the kind of relational Christian fellowship, freedom and flexibility we
have always longed for. One of the nagging questions for me as a 'Home
Churcher' is the subject of the 'collection'. There are clues in the New
Testament about giving, such as the glimpses of the early Church provided
by Acts
2:42-47 and Acts
4:32-37 where everything was shared, every need was met, and there
were no needy persons among them. There is also the picture in Acts
6 where the Apostles devoted themselves to the Word, and chose 7 men
to oversee the daily distribution of food among the believers.

Clearly, the giving
('collective wealth') of the early Church was shared by all, in as much
as the people obviously discussed their needs so that they could help each
other meet those needs, and feed each other on a daily basis. Other scriptures
support this conclusion, such as 'carry each other's burdens' (Galatians
6:2), 'love by actions' (1
John 3:18), etc. The early Church was a close knit family who really
'walked the talk'.

The picture of the
Church that emerges from these scriptures differs RADICALLY from the Old
Testament. In the OT, the Levite priests were the recipients of the tithe,
and the 12 tribes of Israel were responsible to bring the tithe to the
priests. The reason for that was simple, the Levites did not receive any
land as an inheritance to raise flocks and herds or grow fruit and grain.
They worked in the temple day and night, so someone had to feed them and
their families.

Now we turn the page
to the New Testament, and suddenly EVERY BELIEVER is benefiting from the
offerings of the Church, not just a select few.

The reason for that
became clear when the Lord showed me 1
Peter 2:5 and 9, and Revelation
1:6, in which the Word says we are ALL PRIESTS. The Word of God also
makes it clear that as believers in Jesus Christ, we are SONS of God (1
John 3:1, Galatians
3:26), and Jesus said in Matthew
17:25-27 that the SONS ARE FREE (exempt from the temple tax). It is
also very important to note that Stephen and Paul stated clearly in Acts
7:48 and Acts
17:24 (respectively) that God does NOT live in houses made by human
hands. Rather, God now lives in US - we are the temple of the Holy Spirit
(1
Corinthians 3:16).

If we believe the
Word of God about who we are (Priests, Sons, the Temple of the Holy Spirit),
we can clearly see another of the fatal flaws of trying to re-implement
the OT "tithe" in the NT church. The Biblical pattern for the OT tithe
is that it was the NON-priest tribes (the 12 tribes of Jacob) who brought
the tithe to the temple. The priest tribe (Levi) received the tithe. In
fact, the priests (Levi) could NOT tithe because they didn't grow food!
Far more important than that though, is that God was the inheritance of
the Levites, and as such the Levites were WHOLLY consecrated/devoted to
serving God. In other words, instead of getting off with giving just 10%
of their food-stuffs to God as did the other tribes, the Levites had to
give 100% of themselves to God!

The Levite priesthood
is the picture (a fore-shadow) of New Testament believers, who have also
received God as their inheritance by giving themselves WHOLLY (100%) to
Jesus Christ (Matthew
16:24-25).

That all believers
are IN Jesus Christ who is our High Priest forever and as such all believers
are priests, sons, and the temple of the Holy Spirit, is the basis and
reason for every believer sharing in the gifts ('collective wealth') of
the Church.

Following the train
of thought that ALL Priests are to share in what is given, and backing
it up with the words of Jesus in Matthew
25:40 wherein He makes it clear that giving to His "brothers" (all
believers) is the same as giving to Christ directly, we need to assess
who is really being robbed when ministers quote Malachi
3:8-9 to their congregations of believers.

8. "Will a man rob
God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, `How do we rob you?' "In tithes and
offerings.9. You are under
a curse--the whole nation of you--because you are robbing me.

5. "So I will come
near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers,
adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages,
who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice,
but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty.

Notice that one of
the things God is angry about is that laborers are defrauded of their wages.
Owing that Malachi and Nehemiah were written at about the same time, I
believe the fraud (robbery) spoken of in Malachi
3, is described in detail in Nehemiah
13:4-13. In this text we see how that robbery was taking place. What
I gather from the scripture, is that it was NOT that the Israelite's were
withholding the tithe from God, but rather Eliashib the priest opened the
temple store rooms to Tobiah and the portions of food assigned to the Levites
were not given to them. (Tobiah was an Ammonite who worshipped the pagan-god
Molech according to Ezra
2:59-60 and Nehemiah
2:10). In fact, Nehemiah
13:12 says ALL JUDAH brought the tithe to the storerooms, and once
TRUSTWORTHY priests were put in charge of the storerooms, the Levite priests
once again received their portion (verse
13).

The 'robbing of God'
wasn't taking place with the 'bringing' of the tithe, it was taking place
with the 'distribution' of the tithe to the priests. The wicked priest
Eliashib and Tobiah the Ammonite (pagan) were apparently raiding the storerooms
of the temple for themselves. What God considered robbery (fraud) was withholding
the tithe from His priests, who abandoned their service to God when they
weren't fed.

And there in Nehemiah
13:4-13 you have THE VERY picture of what is happening in the Church
today: the priesthood of believers is being robbed by those who are in
charge of the 'temple store room'.

It is for THESE REASONS
the early Church shared
EVERYTHING with each other!

FLIP-SIDE OF THE
TITHE

One recurring thought
I've had about articles which expose the false teaching of the tithe, is
that the FLIP SIDE of the tithe is seldom discussed. Here's what I mean:

Acts 2:44
All the Lord's followers often met together, and they shared everything
they had. Acts 2:45 They would sell their property and possessions
and give the money to whoever needed it. Acts 2:46 Day after
day they met together in the temple. They broke bread together in different
homes and shared their food happily and freely, Acts 2:47
while praising God. Everyone liked them, and each day the Lord added to
their group others who were being saved.

Acts 4:32
The group of followers all felt the same way about everything. None
of them claimed that their possessions were their own, and they shared
everything they had with each other. Acts 4:33 In a powerful
way the apostles told everyone that the Lord Jesus was now alive. God greatly
blessed his followers, Acts 4:34 and no one went in need of anything.
Everyone who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money Acts
4:35to the apostles. Then they would give the money to anyone who
needed it.

Notice all those
scriptures that imply they freely sold their land and possessions, and
then shared ALL the proceeds with the community of believers? Acts
2:46 also indicates that they practiced HOSPITALITY on a regular basis.
I find some relief in Acts
2:46 in that it is clear the believers had their own homes to live
in.

The early Church
was so committed to the Lord and to each other that they shared EVERYTHING
and sold their possessions and shared ALL the proceeds - which is 100%.
Faced with giving ALL / 100%, perhaps that is why the tithe is so attractive
to your average run-of-the-mill church goer. The 'tithe' lets people get
by with just 10%, whereas the examples in scripture require 100%.

What concerns me
is that people, myself included, are glad to see the lie of the tithe exposed,
but we resist embracing the truth that ALL / 100% of what we have belongs
to the Lord. Since all that we have and are belongs to the Lord, we are
expected to share what we have with our brothers and sisters who are also
in the Lord. Our mindset that by abolishing the 10% tithe means we can
now give as little as 0% is headed in the wrong direction .... we now give
100%.

I imagine very few
of us are prepared to share everything we have, myself included. If giving
ALL is the example Christ set for us, and if giving ALL is the example
set by the early Church, are we really willing to cast off the "lie of
the tithe" for the truth of "giving all"? And for me this is a hard question:
IF there is something that I am not willing to share, has it become an
idol in my life?

Just
What Was Abraham's Example?

I have received
many responses to the article "To Tithe Or Not To Tithe". The following
message from Doug White, a dear brother in British Columbia, is very insightful,
and I believe Doug has touched upon the heart and faith of Abraham. I made
a few edits for readability, and converted the scripture passages to contemporary
English versions to assist with understanding Doug's insightful reply.
Here is his reply, posted by permission. Thank you Doug! - Jack

Dear Jack,

I recently read with interest your article
"To
Tithe Or Not To Tithe" … It confirmed and clarified some things I have
been thinking myself in reference to the institutional church's preoccupation
with the tithing ordinance. Later this evening I found the follow up article
on tithing. Your reference to Abraham's tithe to Melchizedek (Genesis
14:17-20) was of particular interest to me because I studied it a while
back trying to reconcile the issue of Abraham's "example".

When
Abram came back from his victory over Chedorlaomer and the other kings,
the king of Sodom went out to meet him in Shaveh Valley (also called King's
Valley). And Melchizedek, who was king of Salem and also a priest of the
Most High God, brought bread and wine to Abram, blessed him, and said,
"May the Most High God, who made heaven and earth, bless Abram! May the
Most High God, who gave you victory over your enemies, be praised!" And
Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the loot he had recovered. (Genesis
14:17-20, GNB)

If we are to look to this passage and Abraham's
actions as an example for us today, should we not consider the whole
example? Or are we allowed to pick and choose just the portions that what
we want to emulate and ignore what we don't?

To those who would insist on making Abraham's
giving an example for us today, I would say, "Ok, what WAS
Abraham's example?"Abraham gave a 10th of the spoil to Melchizedek.
How
much did Abraham keep? Sorry folks, the answer is NONE!

Abraham gave the rest of the spoil (which
was rightfully his to keep) back to the people from whom it was stolen.
We are all familiar with his statement.

The king
of Sodom said to Abram, "All I want are my people. You can keep everything
else." Abram answered: The LORD God Most High made the heavens and the
earth. And I have promised him that I won't keep anything of yours, not
even a sandal strap or a piece of thread. Then you can never say that you
are the one who made me rich. Let my share be the food that my men have
eaten. But Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre went with me, so give them their share
of what we brought back. (Genesis
14:21-24, CEV)

If Abraham IS our example of giving (as we
have so often heard), then let us all rise up to the example shown. ABRAHAM
GAVE ALL!! He kept NOTHING for himself. The mathematical term for this
kind of "offering" is called 100%. There is NO language in this passage
for the "doctrine of portions." The "bridge to the New Covenant" that
this passage makes is "you are not your own, you have been bought with
a price." EVERYTHING we have is an offering to our high priest and mediator.
The only variable suggested here is in where it is allocated.

Which brings us to one of those "between
the lines" kind of questions. Why did Abraham do it? Obviously he was expressing
his gratitude to God. But was there another layer of consideration in his
actions?

These next thoughts are speculative.
There
really is no way to prove them one way or another. But I think there may
be enough reason to give them serious consideration.

When Abraham made his offering to God via
Melchizedek, who else was there to witness to the whole event? The King
of Sodom of course. Immediately following the offering event was the dialogue
between Abraham and the King of Sodom regarding the allocation of the remaining
spoils. My question is: Was Abraham ONLY expressing thanks to God through
this offering? Or was he making a statement as well?

Was Abraham in effect and action,
saying to the King of Sodom, "I KNOW who looks out for me, who protects
me, who prospers me and who gives me victory over my enemies. I don't need
your wealth to be blessed because I trust Him to prosper me. King of Sodom,
you would do well to pay attention and look to the Lord most high yourself
that you too would come under His banner of protection and blessing"?

Now that may be a speculative stretch to
suggest, but we all know what happened a short time later when God revealed
to Abraham Sodom's future. Abraham interceded for Sodom. He begged God
to spare the city for the sake of even a few righteous. I suspect that
the burden of Abraham's intercession for Sodom did not begin the day he
was visited by the messengers from God. I suspect that Abraham had been
interceding for Sodom, people he knew personally and had risked his life
before to aid, for some time.

If we are going to make bridges between
Abraham and the New Covenant, I think we can make one here. As wicked
as they may have been, Abraham was willing to risk his life for them, willing
to defend them, willing to give to them, willing to pray for them AND willing
to witness to them of God's grace and mercy.

So, while we gather in our cloistered meeting
rooms and haggle among ourselves over Abraham's example of "tithing", I
wonder if we should be taking Abraham's example far more seriously. Like
Abraham, are we willing to put our lives on the line and give ALL to the
wicked people living outside our Christian ghettos that the judgement of
God that is poised over their heads may be averted?

Or do we just want to drop 10% in
the bucket on Sunday mornings and live the rest of our lives and spend
the rest of our money however WE choose and "cross by on the other side"
(Luke
10:30-35) when we encounter the morally bankrupt people of our communities?

Abraham's true example of giving all makes
the whole "tithe" argument a moot point doesn't it?

Doug White

"Fun
With Numbers"

I recently found myself looking at the
institutional church in terms of overhead, and what the end product is
for the majority of people. There is a sense in which the church exists
to deliver the message, which in the institutional church is typically
a 20-minute sermon on Sunday morning.
For the
vast majority of the congregation, the sermon is the product they take
home. For those whose only church involvement is in the capacity of a listener
on Sundays, everything other than the sermon is overhead. For
giggles I examined the topic of dedicated giving using a typical church
as an example.

The church has 500 members who collectively
pay for a pastor to preach the gospel twice each Sunday for 20 minutes.
That's
40 minutes of preaching the gospel per week - which amounts to 2080
minutes per year or 34.67 hours per year. We'll give the pastor credit
for occasionally going overtime and round it up to 36 hours per year.
Based on the standard corporate year of 2080 hours for full-time employment,
the
delivery of the "sermon" represents about
1.7%
of the pastors work year. In the interest of fairness, it is necessary
to credit that 36 hours of preaching to the congregation that hired the
pastor to preach the gospel for them rather than do it themselves as Christ
commanded in
Matthew
28:19. So those 36 hours spread equally across
the 500 church members amounts to 4 minutes and 10 seconds per member per
year (250 seconds) of "preaching the gospel".

Now the church has an annual budget
of $250,000 or the equivalent of $500 per member per year. 250
seconds of preaching per member at $500 per member breaks down to a total
cost of (including overhead) $2 per second for
the sermon. The rate per minute is $120, per hour is $7200.
Each 20-minute sermon costs the annual offering of 5 members. The church
pays about $2,400 for a 20 minute sermon!

No wonder Peter left fishing for the
ministry.

But wait! I've made a rash assumption!
The pastor only preaches in the church where everyone is already saved
(supposedly)! So that 4 minute and 10 second credit per member per year
for "preaching the gospel" to the LOST is WIPED
OUT because it was preached to the FOUND!
In other words, the example church is spending a QUARTER MILLION DOLLARS
per year to reach
NO ONE!

How will the members of that church fare
before the judgement of Christ who commands us to be
good stewards
and to preach the gospel throughout the whole world?

Personally, I think the devil laughs himself
silly about it.

Obviously there are problems with my logic,
nevertheless this flight of fancy serves to demonstrate the absurdities
many of us have bought into for so long. I zeroed in on the pastor's sermon
because many of us have made it the pinnacle of
the church week, and many of us have bought into the notion
that only an ordained pastor can preach. In a very real sense, much of
the church is built around the pastor's message – just look at the sanctuary
and the focus of the congregation: the altar - where usually the pulpit
sits center-stage. Of course there can't be a message without a church
building, right? Or can there?

One of the biggest problems with the institutional
church today, is that ministries are often viewed in terms of "vehicles".
A
building! A bus! A
plane (CBN's Operation Blessing),
etc. Many of us seem to have bought into the idea that ministry requires
a vehicle - or that by giving our money for a vehicle that we are giving
to ministry. Vehicles and ministry are not the same. Vehicles do not accomplish
ministry - people accomplish ministry. Looking to Jesus as our example
for ministry, we see that Jesus didn't have a building from which He
based His ministry (Luke
9:58). In fact, until Constantine the Great declared Christianity the
state religion of Rome early in the 4th century AD, Christians were violently
persecuted and they met in secret. There were no dedicated church buildings
for the first 300+ years of Christianity. Yet in terms of growth, the first
300+ years of Christianity were the most explosive! Why then do we insist
on having a vehicle for ministry when they have often served to constrain
ministry and thereby render Christianity impotent by diverting resources
from what ministry is supposed to be: people spreading the message of Christ!
Vehicles turn Christianity into "church in a box" and they have become
a "millstone" around the neck of the true Church - the people! Especially
when we have been conditioned to think of ministry as something that happens
only "in the church", or more specifically "ministry in a box". The only
requirement for most ministries are dedicated Christians who are willing
to serve.

Let me illustrate the point by a confession
from my distant past.

When my brother and I were in our early
20's, we had a Christian band. Our lives ahead of us, we had dreams of
full time music ministry - touring the country - recording albums, etc.
We had written 3-4 songs that were quite good considering the state of
CCM in the late 70's. And so with our big dreams, and the naiveté
of youth, I began considering all that we would need for our ministry.
Every big-name Christian band I'd seen up to that point traveled the country
in a bus with their name on the side (picture
the Partridge Family bus... ;^) and so I started learning
everything I could about busses. GMC, Eagle, Prevost... 35 and 40 foot
diesel powered vehicles - and I subscribed to 2 bus magazines to learn
all that I could about busses. Yet there we were, with only 3-4 songs,
while 10 was the standard for an album. And even if we had 10 songs - there
was no money for recording and pressing an album, let alone buying a smelly
old bus on its last legs. The saddest part was the time I wasted studying
about busses - time that could have been spent writing songs, practicing,
promoting concerts to reach more people, etc.

It didn't take too long before I forgot
about busses, and we turned to local ministry in the outlying areas
of Western Washington State - and we hauled our equipment around in the
back of my pickup truck. Our only investment was a public address system
- we already had guitars and amplifiers. We enjoyed several years of weekend
engagements at prisons, schools, churches, retirement homes, campgrounds,
military bases and private parties. What little we received from love offerings
was not put towards a bus or an album, it was given to area food banks,
or returned to the host church for the poor in their congregation.

And we were greatly blessed for it.

If you desire ministry, take your talent,
your testimony and your Bible, and put legs under them. They are the only
vehicle you need.

Have Questions?

If you need further proof that the Tithe
is NOT APPLICABLE to the New Testament Church of Jesus Christ, please check
out these other fine resources:

The
Prayer Shack offers the book "Should The Church Teach The Tithe"
by Dr. Russell E. Kelly as a free download (800K). The book spans 364 pages,
and addresses EVERY tithing scripture in the Bible. Requires Adobe Acrobat
reader.

Harvest
Net has collected a number of articles and resources on the Old
Testament Tithe, and what giving in the New Testament is all about.

On
Time Publishing is the source for a book entitled "Beyond Tithes
and Offerings" by Michael L. Webb and Michael T. Webb. Michael T. has
a new web site called Mission
Impossible which you will simply have to see to believe.